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Conopodium majus - (Golian.)Loret.

Pignut

Author	(Golian.)Loret.	Botanical references	17
Family	Umbelliferae	Genus	Conopodium
Synonyms	Bunium flexuosum - Stokes. Conopodium denudatum - Koch.
Known Hazards	None known
Range	Europe, including Britain, from Norway to Spain, east to Italy and Corsica.
Habitat	Woods, hedgerows and fields. It is never found on alkaline soils[12].
Edibility Rating	3 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	0 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.3m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; Hedgerow; Cultivated Beds;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Root.

Tubers - raw or cooked[2, 5, 12, 17, 63, 100]. A very pleasant food with a flavour somewhat between a sweet potato and hazelnuts, with a hot aftertaste of radish[115, 183, K]. We have never detected this hot aftertaste, and feel that the flavour is reminiscent of brazil nuts[K]. There is only one tuber on each plant, this is rather small and difficult to harvest, but the size could probably be increased by cultivation[115, K].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Never found on alkaline soils in the wild[12]. See the plants native habitat for other ideas on its cultivation needs. This species responds to cultivation by producing larger tubers[115]. With careful selective breeding it is probably possible to produce a much more productive plant[K].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. Germination is usually quick and good[K]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant them out when in early summer. It is also possible to sow in situ, though this requires a lot more seed to produce the same amount of plants from a protected sowing. Division in late summer as the plant dies down.

Links

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles 0 ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[63] Howes. F. N. Nuts. Faber 1948
Rather old but still a masterpiece. Has sections on tropical and temperate plants with edible nuts plus a section on nut plants in Britain. Very readable.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain. 0
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Conopodium majus

Lynne the Witch Sat Sep 2 2006

A bit concerned about the identification as there are a number of poisonous umbellifers. Trying to find some positive means of identification

Conopodium majus

Tue May 15 2007

This is a useful link, Lynne: http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/wfs/pignut.htm Or you could dig one up, with the tuber, and identify it that way.

Conopodium majus

Tue Sep 4 2007

They have very fine leaves and flower before most umbellifers, and yeah ... the tuber is the sign its a pignut!

Conopodium majus

Phill Fri Jun 19 2009

I have found pignut with four plants growing from the same tuber. i have tried them in Yorkshire, North Devon and Salisbury and the hot peppery after taste was obvious in North Devon, milder in Yorkshire and not detectable in Salisbury.

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